Talking about being Old and in Care part 1

DVD198641 Minutes

Malcolm Brown talks to residents in a home in Scotland.

A series of three videotapes entitled "Being Old and in Care". In this series Malcolm Brown interviews elderly residents from residential homes in the Strathclyde region and from them draws insights about both growing old and living in residential care. The interviewing style is gentle but direct and the respondents give freely and openly of themselves and their lives, albeit that for many of them it is a time of sadness and depression.

Each interview paints a picture of the person's life and the circumstances which led to admission to residential care. The level of help offered in reaching the decision to come into care and the amount of control the individual had over the decision are commonly covered.

Of particular interest are the insights offered into the quality of life in a residential home and to particular problems such as expression of sexuality, of attitudes to death and dying, and of disabling illness.

Part 1 contains five interviews, three with elderly women and two with men. Each has come into care within the past two years and each is at a different point on the spectrum of adjustment to life in care, ranging from a peaceful acceptance of the situation with pleasure in living, to sadness, depression and preference for death. A cross 95-year-old expresses her difficulty with group living after many years of living alone, while a relatively young woman who was disabled by a cerebral haemorrhage talks about the solace of life in care compared to her life with a violent husband. Death of a spouse is a common feature with mixed feelings expressed toward the relatives who were unwilling or unable to look after them at home.

This programme can be rented on our Video on Demand system for £1.50 For this you can view as often as you like within a 48 hour period of your own choosing.